Daily Retreat 05/30/09
2009 May 30 Sat:Easter Weekday
Acts 28:16-20. 30-31/ Ps 11:4. 5 and 7/ Jn 21:20-25
From today’s readings: “Paul received all who came to him, and with complete assurance and without hindrance he proclaimed the Kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.... the LORD is just, He loves just deeds; the upright shall see His face.... There are also many other things that Jesus did, but if these were to be described individually, I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written.”
NOT the end of the Acts of the Apostles!
The daily Mass lectionary covers almost the whole book of the Acts of the Apostles during the Easter season. Today, the final verses of this great book of the Bible are read. Its conclusion seems incomplete - Paul is under house arrest at Rome, proclaiming the Word of God, and then what?
We know that Paul eventually suffered martyrdom in Rome, around the year 67 A.D. The book of Acts does not relate what happened at the end of the two years he was under house arrest in Rome. Possibly he was able to evangelize briefly in Spain, as had been his plans (cf. Romans 15:24) before returning to custody in Rome. In any case, St. Luke focuses instead on the unhindered proclamation of the Gospel in Rome, thereby completely a milestone of Christ’s prophecy in Acts 1:8.
Also, the final chapter of Acts is meant to feel “incomplete” so that each reader realizes that the Apostolic work of evangelization is not done - rather, each one of us is now called upon to write the continuation of the Acts of the Apostles with the acts of our lives!
Acts 28:16-20. 30-31/ Ps 11:4. 5 and 7/ Jn 21:20-25
From today’s readings: “Paul received all who came to him, and with complete assurance and without hindrance he proclaimed the Kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.... the LORD is just, He loves just deeds; the upright shall see His face.... There are also many other things that Jesus did, but if these were to be described individually, I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written.”
NOT the end of the Acts of the Apostles!
The daily Mass lectionary covers almost the whole book of the Acts of the Apostles during the Easter season. Today, the final verses of this great book of the Bible are read. Its conclusion seems incomplete - Paul is under house arrest at Rome, proclaiming the Word of God, and then what?
We know that Paul eventually suffered martyrdom in Rome, around the year 67 A.D. The book of Acts does not relate what happened at the end of the two years he was under house arrest in Rome. Possibly he was able to evangelize briefly in Spain, as had been his plans (cf. Romans 15:24) before returning to custody in Rome. In any case, St. Luke focuses instead on the unhindered proclamation of the Gospel in Rome, thereby completely a milestone of Christ’s prophecy in Acts 1:8.
Also, the final chapter of Acts is meant to feel “incomplete” so that each reader realizes that the Apostolic work of evangelization is not done - rather, each one of us is now called upon to write the continuation of the Acts of the Apostles with the acts of our lives!
posted by FrPitstick | 5/16/2009
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